Buy new ram, put it in the computer, run memtest86+ overnight and if there are any failures send it back for a refund. Otherwise it's safe to keep.
I have also used it when trying to find faults on computers of friends, on one occasion the ram was at fault.

Mepai wrote:Does anyone use memtest86+ from the cover disk and if so why?

Sorry folks, you missed the significant point! I know what it's for, but was alarmed to find that consistently the version of memtest86+ that is on the cover disk is version 1.70 whilst the current version, since 25 January 2011(?) is 4.20.

A bit of a stone axe I might suggest. Well overdue for a retread.

How did I find this out. Well, I have just returned two Zoostorm AMD A6 3670K quad core to eBuyer as faulty under warranty when they failed the memtest86+ v4.20 test at on the SUSE 12.2 64 bit and 32 bit DVD at 22 minutes odd out.

Pass 43%
Test0%
Test #7 [Random number sequence]

8 Gbyte of ddr3 ram in two sticks. Swapping sticks, using both solo in either slot brought up the same basic error (11 minutes plus for single stick).

Obviously not a memory fault per se. There was also a firmware test on the disk that gave a number of errors, the meaning of which I could only guess at, but indicative perhaps of a greater malaise.

Interestingly memtest86+ v4.20 on a Fedora 17 distro DVD ran overnight faultlessly, had no firmware test option and the Live CD appeared to function normally.

I had already fallen back on the trusty cover disk, only to find that it's way out of date and decided that my hardware was quite different to what it was.

The Mobo was from Gigabyte using the A55 chipset.

Can we have an update to the version of memtest86+ on our cover disks please and can anyone shed any light on the failures that I experienced. Two machines with the same fault seemed so much more than coincidental. I took a refund for the second one instead of a replacement and will have a rethink. Meanwhile I decided to go out and buy a lottery ticket as the odds were definitely with me, one way or another.